‘Follies’ lifts Broadway totals

Show delivers some kick in a soft sesh

NEW YORK — Almost every Broadway show saw sales taper off a bit in Week 11 (Aug. 8-14), but the overall cume managed an uptick, thanks largely to the newest addition to the boards, “Follies.”

The tuner played its first full week of eight perfs bringing in $725,062, and drew auds at close to 75% of capacity of the sizable Marquis Theater. Those are solid numbers for a serious-minded tuner that didn’t confirm a Broadway run until a couple of months ago. The continuing preview period could help seed word-of-mouth over the next few weeks.

Only a handful of shows posted gains for the week, and none were notable. “The Book of Mormon” ($1,289,948) broke its 15th house record at the O’Neill Theater, hitting an average ticket price of more than $147. “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” ($674,867), also drove ahead a bit, as did play ($338,979), thanks perhaps to a jolt of last-minute biz prior to its Aug. 21 closing.

Consistent tourist-magnet “Mamma Mia!” ($878,148), soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary on the Main Stem, also crept up. The minor declines at most other shows repped the kind of late-summer fatigue that can sometimes hit Broadway. In general, the frame’s numbers were still fairly robust, and seem certain to stay that way until post-Labor Day.

Overall cume rose by about $300,000 to $20.9 million for 24 shows on the boards.

The 21 musicals grossed $19,208,477 for 92.1% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 203,060 at 83.4% capacity and average paid admission of $94.60. The three plays grossed $1,650,354 for 7.9% of the Broadway total, with attendance of 18,375 at 84.8% capacity and average paid admission of $89.82.